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I had only heard of one incidence of a "virtual" shower in the past, and that was a "virtual" baby shower. But a Facebook friend just mentioned getting an invite to a "virtual" bridal shower, so I fear the phenomenon is catching on. Ladies, this is a major DON'T.

When my first friend was invited to the "virtual" baby shower, we were both confused. She forwarded me the invite, which was just a regular email that went something like this:

"Rather than ask our friends and family members travel, we've decided to host a 'virtual' baby shower, so everyone could welcome our baby without spending a day in the car."

And then there was a link to their baby registry.

I asked if there was some sort of group Skype gathering (like "The Skype Table" on Happy Endings!) or maybe if the guests were supposed to sign up for a time to video chat the mom and dad, but the only "virtual" shower-like activity seemed to be buying the couple a gift. The shower "date" was the date the email went out to the baby's due date, so our impression was, once you had shopped off the registry, your participation in the shower was done. WHAAAAAT?

Look, I get that not every bride (or every new mom) wants a shower. I would've passed both times if showers weren't SO important to my mom. But if you skip the shower (and the small talk and the forced smiles and the opening of gifts in front of a crowd that comes with it) you also have to forgo the shower gifts. People can still get you a shower gift (I would!) and they're probably happy not to travel, but asking for a shower gift when there's no shower is just awful.

A "virtual" shower is not a cutesy alternative to a regular shower, unless there are some other "virtual" activities outside of gift-buying.

It's fine to set up a registry at any point after you get engaged. Having a registry doesn't make you a gift-grabber. But you cannot (CANNOT) arbitrarily email a link to your registry to your wedding guests, just to let them know it exists on the off-chance they want to buy you a gift. It's ridiculousness like this (and "The Honeymoon Fund"*) that makes people think brides are c-r-a-z-y.

*Read the Honeymoon Fund post before yelling at me. It's probably NOT what you think.

Ladies, what do you think: Are "virtual" showers the most awful development in modern weddings? Or are you sort of okay with them?